Accessing the Genius Within: Healing Physical and Emotional Injury With Cortical Field Re-Education®

This eight-day healing workshop at Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California, teaches Cortical Field Re-Education® (CFR®), a gentle, movement-based approach to healing physical and emotional injury. It is open to people recovering from injury or trauma, to those who are sedentary or highly active, to the chronically tired and stressed, and to practitioners in helping professions. Tomas Prietto, Melissa Krikorian, and Kim Blue-Falvey lead it.

The premise is that how we sit, stand, move, and respond carries patterns set in the nervous system in childhood. After an injury, other parts of the body often overwork to protect the hurt area, and those quiet compensations can keep healing incomplete or create new trouble elsewhere.

What to Expect

Through slow, small, gentle movements, you learn to sense these hidden patterns and bring them into awareness. The working idea is that once the nervous system notices a habit that no longer serves, it can let it go. The organizers describe the result as a greater sense of self-trust and self-worth, and a kind of self-love that comes from paying attention to details without judgment. You leave with simple tools for continued self-healing.

The week begins on a Friday with a "How to Drop into Esalen" orientation from 5:00 to 6:00 pm, and the workshop opens that evening from 7:15 to 9:30 pm. From Saturday through Wednesday, the days follow a steady rhythm: a morning session from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm, an afternoon session from 4:00 to 6:00 pm, and an evening session from 7:30 to 9:30 pm, with evening timing varying by day. Thursday follows the same pattern as the final full workshop day. The following Friday closes with a final session from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm, and checkout is by 10:00 am or after that session.

About Tomas Prietto

Tomas Prietto, CFR, CST, is a CFR trainer and a longstanding creative force in the Cortical Field Re-Education® community. He has spent the past two decades studying a variety of modalities, including Craniosacral Therapy, Visceral Manipulation, Tai Ji, and Integrated Awareness®.

About Melissa Krikorian

Melissa Krikorian is a physical therapist with over 25 years of experience and a Cortical Field Re-Education® trainer. She draws on current neuroscience research in her work with groups and private clients to restore physical function and emotional ease.

About Kim Blue-Falvey

Kim Blue-Falvey, PT, CFRp, is a physical therapist who brings over 30 years of practice to the work. She blends biomechanical understanding with compassion and curiosity, using the principles of CFR to help people find freedom from patterns of moving, thinking, and being that no longer serve.

The Setting

The workshop takes place at Esalen Institute on the Big Sur coast. Lodging ranges from sleeping bag space and shared bunk rooms to private queen and king rooms, some with ocean or forest views, as well as yurts and the Price House Suite, the former home of Esalen co-founder Dick Price. Meals are provided, with vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options. Guests can also use the hot springs and other campus features, and can attend classes on the open schedule.

Before You Go

Everyone is welcome, and no prior experience is described as necessary. Recommended reading includes Somatics by Thomas Hanna and The Elusive Obvious by Moshé Feldenkrais.

Included are workshop instruction, housing, breakfast, lunch and dinner, coffee, tea and snacks, hot springs access, and open-schedule classes. Not included are Healing Arts sessions such as Esalen massage, specialty coffee, tea or alcohol from the bar, and bookstore purchases. The workshop carries an additional faculty tuition fee.

Physical therapists licensed in California and Texas can earn continuing education credit. Texas has reciprocity with a number of other states, so check with your state board to confirm. Ask the faculty during the first session for details.